Edge Wise: Is Batman Really Dead?

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Following the events of Batman R.I.P., we attempt to clarify the status of Bruce Wayne.

By Jesse Schedeen

With the Batman R.I.P. storyline ending last week, the curtain has supposedly drawn down on Bruce Wayne's career as Batman. With the Thanksgiving holiday doing nothing to quell the fires of online debate, we figured it was as good a time as any to tackle the subject in another installment of IGN Stars' Edge Wise.

If you've been hiding out in a Batcave all year long, or you just don't follow comic book-related news, R.I.P. is a storyline that DC Comics promised would reveal the final fate of the Caped Crusader. Since Grant Morrison took over writing duties on Batman two years ago, he's been slowly crafting a story where a shadowy figure, known as the Black Glove, has been plotting to destroy Bruce Wayne and R.I.P. is the culmination of Black Glove's plot. Batman was driven to the brink of insanity. In the end, well, there's been some debate as to what exactly happened in the end.

If Bruce Wayne is gone, get his ass in a Lazarus Pit. STAT.

Morrison is one of the most popular writers in the industry, but he has attracted his fair share of detractors with his Batman stories. Morrison deals in high concepts, and some will argue that his ideas are better than his execution. To some, R.I.P. was a unique and compelling look at what drives Bruce Wayne to be Batman. To others, it was a confusing mess of a book.

And that's where we come in. As we see it, there's only one question that needs addressing here.

Is Batman really dead?

It's a question many are asking, and everyone seems to have a different answer. It doesn't help that the news media is attempting to report on the story, as they have with other big comic events like the deaths of Superman and Captain America. Some outlets have displayed a somewhat... questionable understanding of the story.

Alex Ross is at it again.

The short answer to this question is no. Batman is not dead. We can say this with absolute certainty because R.I.P. is set before Morrison's other big DC book, Final Crisis. Morrison has specifically stated that the Batman in Final Crisis is Bruce Wayne. Consider also that the excerpt of Batman's final casebook entry is clearly written after the battle with Dr. Hurt, something that a dead Batman would be hard-pressed to accomplish.

Even if this weren't the case, Batman didn't appear to die in the final pages so much as he disappeared in a fiery helicopter explosion. Comic books are a place where characters can be shot, point-blank in the head, 17 times, and still come back from the dead. We think it's safe to assume that no body means Bruce Wayne is still alive and well.